The case for Centres of Excellence in sustainable building design

Centres of Excellence
Germany has a much higher prevalence of science and engineering in
construction. Designers are much more demanding of the performance
of building components, such as facades, and so the industry responds by
manufacturing high-quality and reliable systems. Thus German manufactured
facades are widely recognised as being of the highest quality and are therefore
routinely specified for the most demanding UK construction projects to the
detriment of UK manufacturers and the balance of payments.
By raising the level of scientific understanding of building performance across
the construction industry we will be raising the demand for high-performance
building components. UK manufacturers will be challenged by UK designers to
improve the performance of their products, which will make them competitive
against similar European products. Further, by engendering familiarity with
building science, UK manufacturers will be able to effectively enter the European
market and compete in a market where building science is demanded.
Centres of Excellence may also benefit UK manufacturing by focusing
construction effort on the passive design measures rather than on the adoption
of microgeneration technology. The most popular forms of micro-generation and
low carbon technologies, such as photovoltaics and heat pumps, are typically
manufactured in Asia, whereas low technology, passive energy-saving products
such as insulation tend to be manufactured in the country of use. Therefore,
by increasing the ability of construction professionals to utilise passive energy
conservation we will increase demand for indigenously manufactured products.
While this study has evaluated the impact of graduates from Centres of
Excellence entering the industry and thus directly mitigating carbon emissions
through good design, it is inevitable that a number of graduates would remain
in academia to further pursue research and to teach. Thus by establishing the
Centres of Excellence we can reasonably expect a better understanding of low
carbon design to permeate throughout other UK universities. As a result the
numbers of carbon literate graduates will increase beyond those trained at the
original Centres of Excellence and the carbon abatement will escalate. A number
of these graduates will become the trainers for the future generation of low
carbon workers proposed under the Green Deal.
Developing a body of articulate carbon literate researchers and graduates would
also facilitate much broader engagement with the general public on matters
of sustainability. The media would have access to expert opinion on matters of
sustainable design and so the public debate could be much better informed.
It can be expected that personnel from the Centres of Excellence also to
contribute to the refinement and implementation of policy for sustainable
development. By combining the rigour of academic research with the practical
experience of successful strategies from the construction industry staff from the
Centres of Excellence will be uniquely positioned to advise policymakers.
Finally, UK universities are seen as highly desirable by overseas students. Overseas
students tend to be self-funding, and so do not impose additional financial
burden on the UK economy, but they bring substantial benefits. Many overseas
students in engineering disciplines remain in the UK, either entering industry or
pursuing academic research. Students from Centres of Excellence who return
overseas to work in industry will take with them a significant level of expertise
in low carbon design and construction which will achieve substantial carbon
abatement in their theatre of work. Thus Centres of Excellence present a real
opportunity for exporting UK expertise in carbon abatement to the benefit of the
whole planet.
The case for Centres of Excellence in sustainable building design 35